_________________________________________________________________________
Tide Men's Basketball Beats Auburn 65-57
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Ugly.
"Wow! What a game," Alabama head basketball coach AVERY JOHNSON said. "It was a roller coaster. I am really proud of our guys. We are awfully happy, we understand that is is a rivalry. I feel a little big different this go around. We are excited about this win and protecting our home court. And thank you, thank you, thank you a million times over to our students and fans tonight because they were another reason why we won this game, pulling us through when we had a struggle there in the second half."
The Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team last night defeated the Auburn Tigers 65-57 in Coleman Coliseum...a SOLD OUT Coleman Coliseum. Though the Tide trailed early in the second half, they went on a scoring tear to the tune of 28-11 in the final 14 1/2 minutes to give Johnson his first win in the rivalry series.
The was the fifth sellout of the season in Coleman Coliseum for the Crimson Tide (17-11, 8-8 SEC). And it was the sweetest to get a win with that crowd against in-state rival, Auburn (11-17, 5-11 SEC).
Senior guard RETIN OBASOHAN led the Tide in scoring with 16 points, followed by ARTHUR EDWARDS with 15 points, and DONTA HALL with 10 points to round out the double-digit scoring.
The Crimson Tide led in rebounds by just one, 37-36. Hall and RILEY NORRIS led the team in rebounds with eight each. Obasohan brought down six rebounds himself. Edwards, MICHAEL KESSENS, SHANNON HALE and JIMMIE TAYLOR all had three rebounds each.
Forward Michael Kessens, commenting on his first dunk of the game, said, "They were playing our ball screens. They were trying to keep us on the side. They didn't want us to come through the middle. We had our game plan set up and all that happened is I popped in the middle and I didn't see anybody. I knew I just had to go up there. They're strong. They try to foul, so we had to go in there strong. I was kind of angry, too."
Forward Donta Hall said, "Energy. Energy. We had to bring it tonight. The crowd had energy. We had energy. We had energy. The coaching staff had energy. We had to keep it that way for us tonight."
Alabama plays its final home game of the regular season this Wednesday night, March 2nd. The Tide hosts the Arkansas Razorbacks and is scheduled for an 8 p.m. CT tip off.
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
------------------------------
Crimson Tide Softball Posts Two Wins
Head coach PATRICK MURPHY said, "We've been working on a lot of big hits, power hitting and getting the ball out of the infield. PEYTON (GRANTHAM)'s hit won the game for us against Arizona and Leona’s did against Marshall. Those were key hits. Marshall and Arizona are both good teams."
